Written by

Andrew Gross

The Journal News

To hear Devin Freeman-Roche talk about the subject, switching from midfielder to defender this season was no big deal. The Putnam Valley native was simply doing what was best for the New York University men's soccer team.

Coach Joe Behan, who made the decision, knows better.

"I think he's a better midfielder than he is a defender, but we needed somebody to come back and fill in on the back line because we graduated a couple of players," Behan said. "He's willing to drop out of a position he loves, and I prefer him in because he's a team player. It's unfortunate we weren't able to progress him as a midfielder because he's such a talented player."

The 20-year-old Freeman-Roche, a junior, started 11 of his first 12 games this season as the Violets opened with a 9-3-1 record.

Last season, the Iona Prep graduate had two goals and two assists while playing in all 23 games for the Violets, who advanced to the NCAA Division III final four while setting school records for highest ranking and most wins, ending the season No. 4 with a 15-4-4 mark.

"We started talking about (the switch) back in the spring," Freeman-Roche said. "We debated and discussed what would be the best place for me to play, where would be the best place for me to play for the team. I just knew that's where the team would need me the most. There were people who could play midfield."

Actually, defender is not a totally foreign position to Freeman-Roche. He played center back his senior year at Iona Prep. And though he sometimes has to check himself from joining the attack upfield, he does like playing in the backfield.

"In a way, it's a little bit easier to play rather than midfield or forward because you're always facing the entire game. You're the last person," Freeman-Roche said. "It is kind of nice to have the ball at your feet and seeing the whole field and deciding where I want to put it. In that respect of the game, I do like playing back there."

Freeman-Roche, the second-youngest of five siblings, began playing soccer when he was 5. Save for one season at Iona Prep, he has played mostly forward or midfield.

He already had applied to NYU when he caught Behan's attention.

"He was playing in a men's league," Behan said. "You could almost tell from the moment you met him that this young man was full of composure. He was playing in a men's league at age 17 and holding his own."

Freeman-Roche did get some interest from the Division I programs at Massachusetts, Connecticut and Binghamton. But NYU's location and academic reputation were the deciding factors for him.

"Playing D-I, it appealed to me, but it kind of turned me off as well," said Freeman-Roche, who originally was studying physics but is now majoring in computer science. "If you get on a team, there's no guarantee you'll play. They bring in players from overseas, and if you bring them in from overseas, you have to play them because you gave them a scholarship. D-III is just as competitive."

And NYU has given Freeman-Roche a chance to be a significant contributor.

Perhaps even more so in the future.

"I'd say he's going to become our central player and our team will be built on him next year," Behan said. "There might be one or two games where we might push him up."

Reach Andrew Gross at apgross@lohud.com. For an archive of stories in this series, visit lohud.com/catchingup.